Goodbye, SpongeBob
by Third Kind
Summary: "Mr. SquarePants, I'm sorry to tell you this, but... Your grandmother has passed away." That was the sentence that changed SpongeBob's life forever. He couldn't believe it - it had all happened too quickly, too soon. He didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to her. But it seemed that Grandma SquarePants knew that too... Darkfic. Contains character death.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey look, it's a new SpongeBob darkfic from yours truly!**

**Actually, this story is going to be much more of a tear jerker than an actual darkfic, but I would still say the premise isn't something you would see in your average SpongeBob episode. Then again, death is a subject a lot of kids' cartoons prefer not to touch (unless it happens in a more serious or "realistic" cartoon, I guess.)**

**Also, this one won't be as long as 'Felony', so don't worry about waiting two years for me to reach the ending (unless something catastrophic happens, which is hopefully unlikely.)**

**Enough with the chatter now – let's start the story!**

* * *

**Chapter One**

To SpongeBob, it should have been just an ordinary day.

At least the morning started out normally enough. As SpongeBob went through his usual morning routine of waking up, getting changed, having breakfast and feeding Gary, he assumed that that day would just be like any other – pleasant and uneventful. Indeed, as soon as he stepped out of his pineapple house for the walk to the Krusty Krab, he began to sing a nameless tune in joy. Nothing at that moment was hinting that in a couple of hours, his life would change forever.

As soon as he arrived at the restaurant, he immediately went to work in the kitchen. Once again, everything seemed to be ordinary, with him frying patties happily and Squidward taking orders miserably. Like what he had thought at his house just previously, SpongeBob honestly assumed that the day would simply go by with nothing terrible happening.

But he was wrong.

A couple of hours later after SpongeBob's shift had begun, Mr. Krabs received a telephone call in his office. After listening to the conversation intently, he left his desk unattended and headed towards the kitchen. During that time, SpongeBob was cooling off by washing some utensils – it was eleven o' clock now, and in an hour, the lunch rush would begin. Suddenly, he heard the door to his work station open; he turned around to see his boss with an expression he had rarely seen on him – an expression of solemness. He quickly became worried – did he have something serious to tell him?

"SpongeBob," Krabs began with a concerned tone. "I've just received a phone call from your mother – it's about your grandma."

Fear began to circulate through the sponge's body._ Grandma SquarePants? _he thought to himself anxiously. _Has something happened to her?_

"She said she's had to go into hospital," the crab explained further.

SpongeBob's heart stood still at that sentence. 'Grandma'? 'Hospital'? With those two words whirling through his mind, he found it hard to not think of the worst.

The sponge went mute as he began to worry about his grandma further, his head falling down in thought and sadness. Understanding how he was feeling, Krabs went towards SpongeBob, put a claw on his shoulder and said, "Because of your family situation, I've decided to let you take the rest of the day off."

SpongeBob looked up towards his boss, surprised at what he'd just said. Usually, he was such a cheapskate that he wouldn't even let him take a quick break, let alone end a shift early – but Krabs' hidden kindness was shining through. He knew that a serious family matter like this was more important than the job, and he also knew how close SpongeBob was to his grandmother, if what Squidward had told him had any truth. If he didn't let him go to see her in hospital, Krabs would have had a guilty conscience for a long time.

For a short time, all SpongeBob could do was stare at Krabs. Learning that he needed more confirmation to leave, the crab said to him, "Go on, go see your grandma – before it's too late."

_Before it's too late..._

That last sentence was what SpongeBob needed. Leaving his post, he gathered what little things he had on him and made his way to the restaurant exit. In any other situation where he had to leave work early, he would have been genuinely upset; but right now, his beloved grandma was ill. He couldn't fret about the Krusty Krab now – and besides, Squidward would surely cover for him.

Speaking of the cephalopod... As the sponge approached the exit of the restaurant, he heard Mr. Krabs talking to him on the cash register. When he passed through the double doors, the last thing he heard in the building was a nasal exclamation of "NO!"

* * *

The sun was beating down on SpongeBob's head as he ran through the streets of Bikini Bottom, pushing his way through small crowds in a race towards the general hospital. People must have looked at him as if he was crazy, but he didn't care. He had to be there for his grandma, whatever she was suffering from. Nothing was going to stop him.

As he sprinted further across the town, SpongeBob knew he could no longer ignore the panic and fear that were quickly spreading throughout his heart. He knew for an obvious fact that Grandma SquarePants was elderly. At her age, if she either injured herself or fell ill, she could potentially...

...Oh dear Neptune. The thought was too much for the sponge to bear. Continuing to run, he began mentally praying for her, trying to hold back his tears as he did so. He had only just realized the true severity of the situation his grandma was in; and he needed to hurry up and be there for her right now.

After what seemed to be an extremely long journey, SpongeBob finally arrived at the Bikini Bottom hospital. As soon as he entered the building, he leaned his body against a nearby wall to catch his breath back from all the running. Another sponge then noticed his presence and began to approach him. SpongeBob looked up – it was his father, looking like his heart had been ripped apart.

_Oh no._

Once the two met face to face, they didn't say a word. They seemed to let their facial expressions do the talking. Not wanting to stand around like an idiot, SpongeBob's father only nodded and led his son to the entrance of a ward. There, the sponge saw his uncles Sherm and Captain Blue, his cousins Stanley and BlackJack, and his mother sitting on the provided seats outside a double door – most likely the entrance to where his grandma was staying. But there was something horribly wrong with his relatives and the general atmosphere in the corridor – Sherm, Captain Blue and BlackJack were all holding their heads low, to the point of being unable to see their faces, while Stanley and his mother were holding each other, crying. None of them had seemed to notice that SpongeBob had arrived.

_Please, no..._

Suddenly, a doctor came through the doors, startling no-one in the corridor except SpongeBob. He quickly spotted the newcomer:

"Who is this?" the doctor asked SpongeBob's father.

"This is my son, SpongeBob," he replied dully. There was even something wrong with how they were speaking.

"Ah," the doctor said. Heading towards him, the sponge knew that the ultimate worst had already happened.

"Mr. SquarePants," he began, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but... Your grandmother has passed away."

* * *

**This chapter took me much longer than I thought it would take... Already, I'm worried about procrastination and late posting. O_O;**

**At least I planned this one to not go on for long. Also, I don't think this chapter is very well written. But regardless, feel free to review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Surprisingly, I've managed to update a fanfic rather quickly by my standards - most likely because this chapter is actually really short compared to what I usually write. Even though I'm concerned that a page under 1,000 words is probably too short for a chapter, I'm not willing to break in the Purple Prose just to make it seem longer. So you guys will just have to make do. XP**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

SpongeBob felt as if he'd just been hit by a ton of bricks.

_Your grandmother has passed away. _

That sentence was so simple to understand, yet he found it incredibly difficult to the sponge severely mishear the doctor just then? No... He'd heard him as clear as the day. Was all this instead some kind of extremely cruel prank his family were pulling? He looked at them all again - his mother and Stanley were genuinely crying, and his other male relatives (minus his father) were still sitting down motionless, their heads staring towards the floor. Their reactions were much too sincere for it to be considering acting; and besides, his family would never do something as heartless as that against him. As much as he was trying to debunk and deny everything that was happening, SpongeBob had now come face to face with a terrible realization:

Grandma SquarePants was dead.

And he didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to her.

Usually, SpongeBob would have burst into tears and cried loudly, as per his childish demeanour; but for some reason, he wasn't crying. In fact, since the doctor had told him the news, he'd been merely standing in front of him, looking dazed. It took some prompting from his father to get a word out of him:

"Do you want to see her, SpongeBob?"

He should have said no – in his current state right then, it would have been too heartbreaking for him to see Grandma in a lifeless state. But against his better judgement, he said yes.

The doctor opened a door to the ward and led the two inside. Immediately, a cold, uninviting atmosphere enveloped SpongeBob, causing his goosebumps to rise – it was almost as if the ward itself knew that someone had just passed away inside it. Taking him and his father towards a closed curtain, the doctor looked towards the latter, needing extra confirmation to proceed. Mr. SquarePants looked towards his son. SpongeBob nodded at him, even though he was not in the right mindframe to be seeing his dead grandmother.

Understanding his decision, the doctor drew the curtains sideways - and that's when SpongeBob saw her.

The dead woman in the bed was definitely his grandma – he could recognise her facial features and head shape; but her face was deathly pale and her skin looked unhealthy. To SpongeBob, she looked like a completely different person - the Grandma SquarePants he knew had skin in a wonderful shade of orange, and hair done up in a sort of beehive. But here, she looked like a very frail old woman, with her hair in a frizzy mess. She must have been incredibly ill for her to turn out like that. SpongeBob hoped that she didn't have to suffer for too long.

As he stared at her body, tears began to form in the sponge's eyes. Quickly noticing, SpongeBob's father put an arm around him, but he didn't seem to care.

Then the tears began to fall down his cheeks.

It was not like SpongeBob to act this way – in any other situation, he would have been wailing like a baby, but here, he was crying silently. Knowing that his son was acting against his usual character, Mr. SquarePants pulled him in for a hug. Realizing what he was doing, SpongeBob hugged him back, beginning to audibly sob.

In just the space of half a day, the sponge had lost his grandmother – but it wasn't the only thing he had lost.

SpongeBob had also lost his innocence.

* * *

**I honestly did not realise how short this chapter was going to be initially. If anything, I could have easily copied and pasted this at the end of chapter one and made some adjustments, but it's a bit late now. (Also, I'm too lazy. :P)**

**Anyhow, read and review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**...And now we're heading into the realm of depressing. In my opinion, this chapter isn't very well-written (curse you, writer's block), but I'll let you be the judge of that.**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

For the next three weeks, SpongeBob was locked in a state of grief. He would not speak much, if at all, and he refused to see his friends or acquaintances. He wouldn't even leave his house either, unless he had to do the shopping; and even then, he would have a miserable expression on his face, which was so obvious strangers wondered what was wrong with him. But SpongeBob didn't really pay attention to them. They didn't know he had just lost someone close to him. Not that they needed to be informed of his personal issues, anyway.

Grandma SquarePants' funeral was held at the Bikini Bottom church. It was a quiet, low-key affair, despite the church being packed with SquarePants family members (including very distant relatives) and old, living friends of Grandma alike. SpongeBob couldn't even recognize half of the attendees. Nevertheless, he thought it wouldn't be a good idea to start asking his parents questions about who was who.

The service was sombre, yet also strangely uplifting, considering what it was about. After some first words from the reverend, a few guests were invited to speak in front of the congregation. SpongeBob's father gave a heartwarming speech about what a wonderful mother she was, while a close friend of Grandma's recalled some good times she had had with her. Even cousin BlackJack was given the chance to say a few words of his own, stating that although he'd been arrested for littering, effectively making him a criminal, she never once turned her back on him. At first, SpongeBob was offended that he wasn't asked to make a speech as well – he was just as close to Grandma as the rest of his family; maybe even more so. Then, a realization began to dawn on him.

Grandma must have touched the hearts of many people in her life. He knew from first-hand experience what a lovely woman she was, but he had never realized the true extent of her kindness until now. It was evident from the huge turnout – there were relatives SpongeBob didn't even know had existed until he saw them sitting on the pews. While it still didn't explain why he wasn't asked to create a speech, knowing how much light Grandma had given to the SquarePants family and outside it made his heart warm up a little.

After the service was over, Grandma's coffin was taken outside to the surrounding graveyard. Stepping outside the church, SpongeBob was blinded by a strong ray of light. It was a beautiful day outside, with a blue sky dotted with flowers and a gentle breeze, but to the sponge, it felt as if an unseen force was trying to mock him – in his opinion, the weather was much too pleasant for something like a funeral. Lowering his head, SpongeBob carried on following his close family, who were leaving him behind.

The coffin was carried towards a freshly-dug grave. As soon as the congregation had surrounded the grave, the undertakers began to lower the coffin into the hole. Standing alongside his parents in front of the entire crowd, SpongeBob appeared stoic in expression; but in reality, he was about to emotionally break. Here, he was watching his beloved grandmother being laid to rest. It wasn't like the cartoons he used to watch as a kid, where dead characters could magically come back to life – this was the real world. Grandma was dead and no amount of wishing or praying could change that. It was the fundamental law of nature.

_Yet I couldn't even make it in time to say goodbye to her..._

Suddenly, tears began falling from SpongeBob's eyes. At first, no-one noticed until he sniffed, causing his parents to hear him. They both wrapped an arm around him in sympathy, until the sponge decided to hug his mother. Then, he began to cry a little louder.

"Grandma..." he muttered on his mother's shoulder. The coffin had been completely settled down the hole at that point. Knowing that it was now secure, the undertakers began to bury the coffin properly. All the while, SpongeBob cried as if he were a little boy again. Still hugging him closely, SpongeBob's mother almost cried alongside him, while his father was now patting his back.

"Grandma..." the sponge muttered once again. If the cold, harsh reality of his loss had not hit him before, then it certainly had now. Grandma SquarePants had meant the entire world to SpongeBob, but now she was gone. The only thing he was regretting right now was the fact that he arrived at the hospital too late to say goodbye to her. If only he'd made it earlier... Just thinking about it was killing him from the inside.

Little did the sponge know, however, that he would soon be paid a midnight visit...

* * *

**The next chapter will be the last one for this story. Well, I did say it wouldn't be as long as 'Felony'...**

**Read and review, as usual.**


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter was a pain for me to write... Thank God this is the last one for this story. :P**

**Also, the supernatural tag under the genre listing for this? It's finally coming into full force...**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

Later that night, SpongeBob was still crying uncontrollably in his bedroom. The funeral had taken an unexpected toll on his emotions - after the burial was over, his parents, feeling that he wasn't emotionally strong enough at that moment to attend the planned wake, decided to take him straight home. No-one in the car spoke a word to each other as they drove towards the sponge's home – only the sniffles of SpongeBob and the sighs of Mr. and Mrs. SquarePants could be heard.

As soon as the family had arrived at the pineapple, SpongeBob instantly collapsed onto his couch, unable to stop his stream of tears. In response, his parents sat beside him and comforted him deeply. Time passed by idly as all three of them sat in the front room locked in mourning – all the while, SpongeBob continued to sob loudly, his heart breaking up into even tinier pieces. Everything that was happening right now felt incredibly wrong to him – life was changing too dramatically, too quickly for him to handle well. Never once in his existence did he think that one day, he would lose his Grandma to nature. ...Actually, deep in his childish self, he had wanted Grandma to live forever. But she didn't. She couldn't, anyway. Reality wouldn't allow it.

Time carried on further. Finally, SpongeBob's father checked his watch and realised that he and his wife had to leave to attend the rest of the wake. Although they wanted to stay with their son badly, they felt they couldn't ignore the rest of the family. In fact, SpongeBob looked as if he was beginning to calm down a bit. Despite the fact that they were very hesitant to leave him behind, Mr. and Mrs. SquarePants decided to go on without him. They said their goodbyes and the parents left the pineapple.

For the rest of the day, SpongeBob merely sat on the couch, appearing distant from the small world around him. Even though he had knocked off the sobbing for the time being, he still felt empty inside. It was like he had no reason to truly live anymore. Fortunately, Gary, who had been listening to his master's wails since he'd arrived home, had decided to take over the SquarePants parents' previous duty by comforting SpongeBob in his own way. Slithering towards the couch, Gary rubbed against his legs affectionately. Realising what he was trying to do, SpongeBob picked Gary up and stroked his shell gently. Although he may have been just a snail, the sponge was very glad that he had Gary by his side. They may have had their ups and downs together, but he knew that he could always count on his loyal pet to support him.

He must have been fussing the snail for a very long time, because the next thing SpongeBob knew, his wall clock was saying it was night-time. Feeling extremely tired from the emotional burnout, he placed Gary back on the ground and decided to go straight to bed – but once he got in, he couldn't fall asleep. Thoughts of the events of today kept lingering and replaying in his mind. Then, just as he felt he was finally about to drop off into slumber, he began to recall memories.

Memories of his grandmother.

The memories were fleeting, yet also extremely vivid. They consisted of random, pleasant times SpongeBob had had with Grandma – being fed cookies, trying out one of her knitted sweaters, being read a story before work... There were many more, some SpongeBob had even forgotten about until now. As the recollections continued, his eyes began to water once more. Ultimately, SpongeBob shot up from bed and started to cry again, this time much harder than before. Gary, who had been sleeping in his newspaper bed beside him, was immediately startled by the wailing. Realising what was going on, he jumped onto his master's bed and meowed, trying to calm him down. But he couldn't – SpongeBob had accumulated enough energy to cry non-stop. Feeling helpless at that moment, Gary simply stayed beside SpongeBob, refusing to ignore the plight of his best friend.

* * *

The sponge couldn't remember if he had cried himself to sleep; but he must have done, anyhow. He had just opened his eyes, only to find himself under the covers of his bed in complete darkness. But he had not woken up spontaneously – short-term memory loss was the least of SpongeBob's fears right then. He had woken up because he was feeling something _incredibly_ wrong with his bedroom.

The temperature was strangely cold for the time of year – it was now approaching summer in Bikini Bottom, yet SpongeBob was almost shivering under his blanket. It almost felt like he was trying to sleep in his refrigerator. Was he falling ill, or something? He checked his forehead – no, he didn't feel hot or anything. So why was his room so cold?

Then he began to feel something else – something much more sinister.

He felt like someone was watching him.

The sponge didn't want to poke his head over the blanket – what if someone dangerous had broken into his house, like a burglar, or even a maniac? Hang on... He couldn't hear anything in his room. Aside from the ticking of his alarm clock and Gary's snores in his room, it was completely silent everywhere – he couldn't even hear anything foreign throughout the house. But if no-one had broken into the pineapple, why did SpongeBob strongly feel that someone was watching him intently?

Although he was petrified, SpongeBob wanted to understand what was happening in his room. Taking a deep breath, SpongeBob raised himself up from under the covers...

...But there was no-one there. His room was completely black, with no shadows of anyone anywhere. Breathing a sigh of relief and dismissing his fears, he decided to go back to sleep while still feeling cold...

...Until he saw _her _in the corner of his eye.

SpongeBob jumped up in surprise and almost screamed in shock. Frozen in dear fright, he sat on his bed mouth agape as he tried to comprehend the sight in front of him.

It was Grandma SquarePants – and she was standing in SpongeBob's bedroom doorway.

It took a while for him to process everything, but the sponge began to realise that something was very different about the Grandma in front of him. At least she didn't look like the one in the hospital, thank goodness. But this Grandma was probably the strangest he'd ever seen - in fact, this one literally appeared to be transparent. If he could move at that moment, SpongeBob assumed that he would be able to walk right through her.

He continued to stare at her for some time. Grandma stared at him back without moving an inch. Then, she spoke – or at least tried to. SpongeBob didn't hear any speech come from her mouth. But he could somehow read her lips.

She was trying to say, "Goodbye, SpongeBob."

It was the phrase that made him realise what was happening to him right now. Grandma must have been upset that she was unable to say goodbye to her favourite grandson, so through some force completely unknown to any mortal creature on earth, she came back from beyond the dead to say goodbye to him. _She definitely must have felt the same way as me_, SpongeBob thought.

He was taking part in a miracle – he was seeing one of the oldest lights in his life for the last time, before she would burn out forever. He didn't want the moment to end. But unfortunately, it had to. Once he felt he had reconciled with his grief long enough, he said to the ghost of his grandmother:

"Goodbye, Grandma."

Grandma smiled at him. Then, she began to disappear. SpongeBob almost wanted to cry out to her to stay, but he didn't. It was time for her to go. She was going off to a better place, free from pain and suffering. She would never have to worry about anything ever again. It would be selfish of him to want her to stay by him forever – so he was letting her go off to the heavens.

Finally, after some time of fading away, she vanished completely.

SpongeBob began to cry again – however, he was doing it silently. He was also not crying of sadness, but of joy. His grandmother had just visited him from beyond to tell him that she was OK, and to say farewell. He was extremely glad that her death seemed to have been painless. He would treasure the experience that he'd just had for the rest of his life.

"Grandma..." he whispered, so as not to awaken Gary. "I hope you get to wherever you're going to safely. I'll see you later..."

* * *

**...Alright, I'll admit it – I almost cried as I wrote the ending to this. Then again, I shouldn't be acting all emotionally defensive about that. :P**

**I hope you guys have enjoyed this story. Unfortunately, I don't have any new SpongeBob stories planned out, but I might have a one-shot or two somewhere in my mind. Right now, I'm focusing on getting back into college, so that'll stall any new projects I've got. Anyhow, I'll see y'all later!**

**Sincerely, Third Kind.**


End file.
